Grid-pasting machine.



T. A. WILLARD.

GRID PASTING MACHINE. APPLICATION'HLED MAR. 24-. l-9l3.

Patented Mar. 18,1919.

IIIIIIIII 76 c /WW THEODORE A. WILLARD, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGN'OR'10 WILLARD STORAGE BATTERY COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATIONOF wns'r VIRGINIA.

G IL-PAs'rING MACFINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 24, 1913. Serial No. 756,422.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE A. WILLARD,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Grid-Pasting Machines, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description. This invention relates to a pastingmachine forstorage battery grids, or to a machine for mechanicallyfilling the interstices of the grids with paste or active material.

It is a well known fact that practically all storage battery grids arepasted or filled with paste by hand, and as far as I am aware, nomachine has ever been provided which will paste the grids assatisfactorily as they are pasted by hand. A

The object of the present invention is to provide a. pasting machine bywhich the grids can be pasted in a very eflective manner, and much morerapidly than by hand.

The machine which I have provided includes a suitable paste feedingmeans which feeds the paste toward or into the grid, and one or moresuitable compressing and smoothing devices which are arranged in properrelationship with respect to the feeder, and at its discharge end insuch a way that they will compress and force the material into all the--interstices, filling well the corners, and, in fact all open spaces andsmooth the surfaces so that when the grid passes, or is removed from thecompressor or compressors, it will be in the same condition, as ifpasted by hand. The grids may be fed mechanically and continuouslythrough the machine in the proper path with respect to the feeder andcompressors.

The invention may further be briefly summarized as consisting in certainnovel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of partswhich will be described in the specification, and set forth in theappended claims.

In the drawings, wherein I have shown an embodiment of the inventionwhich operates satisfactorily, Figure 1 is avertical longitudinalsectional view through the machine, Fig. 2 is an end view of the same;and Fig. i "3 is a transverse sectional view substantiall alongthe line3.3 of Fig. 1,

The machine includes a feedingchamber 10 which is preferably cylindricaland is arranged in horizontal position. .The paste is adapted to be fedendwise through the chamber 10 by a worm or screw feeder 11, the pitchof the thread of which is preferably decreased from the inlet to thedischarge end so that the paste will be gradually compressed more andmore, as it approaches the discharge end. This spiral feeder surroundsand is partially supported on a horizontal spindle 12 extending axiallythrough the chamber 10. The material is adapted to be fed into thechamber 10 through a hopper 13, into the center of which extends avertical spindle 14 provided in the upper portion of the hopper withpaddles or blades 15, and in the lower portion with a spiral feeder 16.The paste previously mixed may be placed into the hopper, or the hoppermayconsti: tute a mixing chamber into which the materials or ingredientsof which the paste is composed may be supplied, and will be thoroughlymixed by the revolving blades 15, and thence fed into the feedingchamber 10 beneath by the spiral feeder 16.

As the machine is shown in Fig. 1, the paste will be fed from the lefthand end to the right hand end. Situated at the discharge end of thechamber is a revolving compressor 17 in the form of a wheel withradially extending inclined blades, suitably spaced apart. This wheel orcompressor is secured to the end of the shaft or spindle 12 whichisdriven independently of the spiral feeder 11 in a manner hereinafterreferred to. The paste forced through the chamber 10 by the spiralfeeder 11 and compressed near the discharge end of the chamber passesbetween the rotating blades of the comg I find that a single compressorof the character described answers the purpose very.-

well, providing that on the reverse side of the grid is placed a flatsurface against which grid 18 on the opposite side the material on theopposite side of the grid may be pressed. The best results can beobtained, however, by two oppositely rotating compressors, and hence inthe drawings, I have shown a second compressor 19 arranged coaxiallywith respect to the, compressor 17, and spaced from the compressor 17 adistance equal substantially to the thickness of the grid. Thiscompressor 19 is similar to the compressor 17 in all respects, and issecured to a short shaft 20, which is in alinement with the relativelylong shaft 12.

The parts so far described are all independently driven by mechanismwhich may be as follows: Power can be applied through a suitable belt toa pulley 21 secured to the outer end of shaft 12. Secured to the shaft12 adjacent to pulley 21 is a gear 22 which meshes with a second gear 23secured to a short shaft 24, to which is secured asmaller gear 25 whichmeshes with a relatively large gear 26 mounted on a tubular flange 11which extends outwardly from the spiral.

feeder 11 through a suitable opening in the end of the feeding chamber10. This gear which is adapted to rotate the feeder 11 is preferablyconnected thereto by a frictionclutching means, and in this case ispressed against a suitable shoulder on the end of the tubular flange 11of the spiral feeder by means of rather stiff springs 27. This frictionclutch device is utilized instead of a positive driving connection inorder that the driving gear 26 may slip in case the paste is too denselycompressed or fed too fast.

'The spindle 14 is driven from the parts just described by drivingmechanism including a gear 29 secured to a horizontal shaft 30. Thisshaft is provided adjacent the gear 29 with a pulley 31 connected by abelt 32 to an upper pulley 33 secured to an upper horizontal shaft 34which is connected by beveled gearing 35 to the upper end of spindle 14.

The compressor 19 is rotated in the reverse direction with respect tothe compressor 17 by driving means including a gear 37 which meshes witha larger gear 38 se- Cured to the outer end of the short shaft 20.

By the above described mechanism, the haft 14 with its mixing blades andspiral f-ifeeder, the spiral feeder 11 and two comessors 17 and 19 areall rotated at the de- P -sired relative speeds.

The speed at which any one of the parts is driven can be varied to suitrequirements by 'intereh'angeable gearing or through equally well knownmeans. It is not essential, however, that I use the particular form ofdriving means or devices here illustrated, as

these parts can be modified as occasion 9r clrcumstan'c es require.

"With the mechanism here shown, the spiral feeder 11 is rotated slowlywhile the compressors17 and 19 are rotated in opposite directions, andat a much higher rate of speed than the feeder. The relative speeds atwhich these members'will be driven to produce the best results willdepend upon conditions which may vary, such as the density of the pasteor the thickness of the grid, and I propose to vary the relative speedsof these members to suit requirements.

The grids are preferably fed mechanically through the machine in such away that they move continuously in a path at right angles to thedirection of feed between the two compressors 17 and '19, the spacebetween the blades of the two compressors being substantially equal tothe thickness of the grid. In this case, the grids are adapted to be fedin a vertical direction from the top downwardly. Arranged above thatpart of the chamber 10 which surrounds the compressors is a guide 40having a narrow slot, whose width and thickness dimensions aresubstantially that of the corresponding diare arranged on opposite sidesof the grids so as to frictionally engage the same, and feed the samedownwardly.

The roller on one side of the guide 40 is driven by suitable gearconnecting means 43, including a gear which meshes with the gear 37previously referred to. Rotation is transmitted from one roller 42 tothe roller 42 which is located on the opposite side of the guide bymeans of gears 44.

Thus it will be seen that the paste is fed toward the discharge end ofthe feed chamber 10 and is gradually compressed more and .moreas itapproaches the discharge end.

At the same time, grids are fed edgewise between the compressors 17 and18 which rotate in opposite directions, as before stated. The pastepasses through the blades of the first compressor 17 and is forced intothe open spaces of the grids, and compressed by the rotating blades soas to fill all portions of the openings of the grid. At the same time,the revolving blades wipe or smooth the outer surfaces of the grid, andwhen the latter emerges from'the machine, it is in the same condition asif it had been pastedby hand, and its surfaces smoothed by hand operatedmeans. This operation is carried on continuously, with the result thatthe grids are pasted quite rapidly and effectively. I

It will be obvious that in the construction of the machine, numerousparts may be varied considerably, without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention, and- I do not desire to be limited to anyspecific details,- except so far as I am expressly limited by the termsof the appended claims.

.Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim is:

1. In a grid pasting machine, the combination with a feeding chamber,means for continuously feeding paste to the said chamber, means adjacentthe end of said chamber for receiving a grid, and means located at oneside of the grid receiving part adapted to force the paste from thefeeding chamber into the interstices of the grid from one side thereofonly.

2. In a grid pasting machine, a feeding chamber, means for feedingmaterial through said chamber, receiving means for a grid adjacent theend of said chamber,

means for forcing paste into the openings in the grid from one sidethereof only, and means upon the opposite side of the grid for smoothingthe surface thereof.v

3. In a grid pasting machine, means for receiving a grid, means forfeeding paste to and forcing the same into the openings in the grid fromone side only, and means upon the opposite sideot' the grid adapted toassist in the compression of the paste in the spaces of the grid, and toremove the excess material from the surface of the grid.

4. In a grid pasting machine, the combination with means for receiving agrid, a feeding chamber for the paste material, means for receivingthematerial from the feeding chamber and forcing the same into the openingsin the grid from one side only of said grid, and means upon the oppositeside of the grid adapted to assist in the compression of the materialwithin the grid.

- 5. In a grid pasting machine, the combination with a feeding chamber,"means within said feeding chamber for moving the material through thechamber, a mixing chamber opening into the said feeding chamber, meanswithin said mixing chamber forv mixing the material supplied thereto andforcing it into the feeding chamber, means for supporting a gridadjacent one end of said feeding chamber,-and in position to receivematerial from said feeding chamber at one side of the grid only.

6. In a. grid pasting machine, the combination with a feeding chamber,feeding mechanism within the said chamber for feeding the materialthrough the chamber, means for operating said feeding mechanism, aconnection between said feeding mechanism and its operating mechanism,said connection including a clutch capable of slipping, and means forsupporting'a grid adjacent the outlet end of the feeding chamber.

7. In a grid pasting machine, a feeding chamber, feeding'mechanism insaid chamber for feeding material through the chamber in one directiononly, means for supporting a grid adjacent one end of said chamber, a.compressor adapted to force the material from the feed chamber into theopenings in said grid, and a compressor upon the opposite side of saidgrid adapted to assist in the compression of the material within theopenings in the grid.

8. In a grid pasting machine, a feeding chamber, mechanism within saidchamber for feeding material through said chamber, means for supportinga grid adjacent one end of said chamber, a compressor adapted to receivematerial from the feeding chamber and force the same into the openingsin the grid, means for operating said compressingimeans at asubstantially constant speed, and means for operating the feeding. meansWithin the feeding chamber, said operating means including a slipconnection.

9'. In a pasting machine, a feeder comprising a feeding chamber, rotarymeans for feeding paste lengthwise thereof and for compressing the sametoward the discharge end, a pair of rotary wheels having blades locatedadjacent the discharge end of the chamber coaxially therewith, saidwheels being spaced apart, and means for feeding the grids at rightangles to the axis of the feeder, through the space between said Wheels,and means for rotating the feeding means and for rotating the saidwheels in opposite directions, and at a higher rate of speed than thatat which the feeder is rotated.

10. In a grid pasting machine, the combination with a feeding chamberclosed at one end, means adjacent the closed end of the chamber forreceiving a grid, and means for forcing paste into the interstices of agrid from one side only thereof.

11. In a grid pasting machine, the combination with a feeding chamberclosed at one end, an opening adjacent the closed end of said chamberadapted to receive a grid, means for continually feeding grids throughthe said opening, and means for forcing paste into the interstices ofthe grid from one side only.

12. In a grid pasting machine, the combination with a feeding chamberclosed at one end, means adjacent the closed end of the chamber forreceiving a grid, means for forcing paste into the interstices of thegrid from one side of the grid only, and means for cooperating with asurface of the grid for wiping off the excess material.

13. Ina grid pasting machine, the combination with a feeding chamberclosed at one end, means adjacent the'closed end of the chamber forreceiving a grid, means for & 1,297,766

from one side thereof only, and means cooperating with the opposite sideof a. grid for Wiping off the excess material.

14. In a grid pasting machine, the combi- 5 nation With a feedingchamber closed at one end, means at one end of the chamber for receivinga grid; means for feeding paste to,

and forcing the same into the openings in said grid from one side only,and means 10 upon the opposite side of the grid adapted to assist in thecompression of the paste in the grid and to remove the excess materialfrom the surface of the grid.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature inthe presence oftWo Witnesses. 15

THEODORE A. WILLARD.

Witnesses:

N. C. HUBBARD, A. F. KWIS.

